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Vicksburg
This coin, featuring an image of Vicksburg National Military Park, is the fourth coin released in the 2011 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin Series. These coins are legal tender and have a nominal face value of 25 cents. Their fineness and weight are edge-incused on the coins.
The series features the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model, on the obverse. The reverse depicts the U.S.S. Cairo on the Yazoo River as it would have been seen when it served the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.
These striking numismatic collectibles are produced with an uncirculated finish and display a "P" mint mark for the United States Mint at Philadelphia, where they are struck. The coins are encapsulated, set in a protective outer box, and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. These coins are produced in limited quantities.
The Vicksburg National Military Park Quarter
The Vicksburg National Military Park quarter is the fourth released in 2011 and the ninth overall in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. The park commemorates one of the pivotal battles of the Civil War — the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg, Miss. Surrender on July 4, 1863, coupled with the fall of Port Hudson, La., split the South, giving control of the Mississippi River to the North. The museum exhibits at the park depict the hardships of civilians and soldiers during the devastating 47-day siege of the city. More than 1,350 monuments, a national cemetery and the restored Union ironclad gunboat, the U.S.S. Cairo, mark the 16-mile tour road. The U.S.S. Cairo was the first warship sunk by an electronically detonated "torpedo," which ushered in a new age of naval warfare. Vicksburg was first established as a national site on February 21, 1899 (30 Stat. 841).
The reverse image depicts the U.S.S. Cairo on the Yazoo River as it would have been seen when it served the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Inscriptions are VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, 2011 and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
The Siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
When two major assaults (May 19 and May 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no reinforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than forty days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. This action (combined with the capitulation of Port Hudson on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, who would hold it for the rest of the conflict.
The Confederate surrender following the siege at Vicksburg is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee's defeat at Gettysburg the previous day, the turning point of the war. It also cut off communication with Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department for the remainder of the war. The city of Vicksburg would not celebrate Independence Day for about eighty years as a result of the siege and surrender.